A Family Affair

Core Values Series - A Historical View of Family and the Father

Bishop Adrian F. Starks

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Historical Context

In modern Western culture, the word “family” typically signifies a nuclear group of persons who reside together and are related either by blood or adoption (i.e., a father, mother, and any children). The word is then expanded to refer to a long line of people to whom that nuclear family is connected. This modern meaning of family differs greatly from words used to delineate family within the first and second centuries.

Introduction

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Historical Context

In modern Western culture, the word “family” typically signifies a nuclear group of persons who reside together and are related either by blood or adoption (i.e., a father, mother, and any children). The word is then expanded to refer to a long line of people to whom that nuclear family is connected. This modern meaning of family differs greatly from words used to delineate family within the first and second centuries.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Historical Context

There is no Greek or Latin word that specifically denotes a nuclear family (Moxnes, Constructing Early Christian Families, 20). The primary Greek word for describing a family (οἶκος, oikos) refers mainly to a house or household (BDAG, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament). The word holds the sense of a homestead wherein people are living together for a common purpose

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Historical Context

There are over 100 occurrences of οἶκος (oikos) in the New Testament, 60 of which refer to a house or home; in at least 12 of the occurrences οἶκος (oikos) represents a family or group of people (Aland, Did the Early Church Baptize Infants?, 87). The term connotes a unit of persons—including servants—working and living together under the leadership of the head of that household (Moxnes, Constructing Early Christian Families, 21).

So the term oikos then refers to a family, the family’s property and the house. It is a critical element to comprehend if we are ever to understand the essence of family in the 1st and 2nd century. Recently I talked about some of this in my teaching on my radio broadcast the Voice of Victory entitled “Welcome To My House”.

Specifically, in the Roman family, every household had a head, the father (Patriarch) called the:

Paterfamilias

The Lexham Glossary of Theology Paterfamilias

The male head of the household.

Family is a defining source of honor and the larger society’s outlook on the matter.

Father is mentioned 465 times in the Old Testament and 114 times in the New Testament

Old Testament:

father

progenitor

ancestor

chief

New Testament:

nourisher

protector

teacher / instructor

instructor

upholder

Father: How do you see him? As the “enforcer” or the “re-enforcer?” You make the call.

Expositio

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Jewish Families in Early Graeco-Roman Culture

Ethnic identity was central to practicing the Jewish faith (Barclay, “The Family as the Bearer of Religion,” 69): to be Jewish was to be a follower of Yahweh. As Barclay writes, “Judaism was woven particularly deeply into the fabric of family life, and Jewish children raised in an ethos in which their ethnic distinctiveness was continually reinforced” (Barclay, “The Family as the Bearer of Religion,” 71).

The first-century Jewish historian Josephus reports that one of the primary markers of the Jewish tradition was devotion to the instruction of children, particular as it related to the decrees of God (Barclay, “The Family as the Bearer of Religion,” 69–70).

Davidson, J. R. (2016). Family Relations in the First Century. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Father is a powerful and significant position to be entrusted with as we see through the lens of Joseph. He reveals the significance in

The New King James Version Chapter 45

So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament 45:1-28: Joseph Reveals His Identity

Joseph Reveals His Identity

45:8. titles of Joseph. The use of the title “father of Pharaoh” most likely is related to the Egyptian title itntr, “father of the god,” used to refer to a variety of officials and priests who serve in the Pharaoh’s court. “Father” represents an advisory relationship, perhaps to be equated with the role of the priest hired by Micah in Judges 17:10 or the role of Elisha as the king of Israel’s counselor in 2 Kings 6:21.

Conclusion:

Courtney’s injury at beach… My response as a father. It is what every father is called to do.